Ministero per i Beni
e le Attività Culturali

Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici
dell'Emilia Romagna

Inscription of
T.Titius Gemellus

Stele of
Publius Volusenus Genialis

This room, like the following one, contains some inscriptions belonging to the Roman age, collected in the XVII th century by the humanist Filippo Antonini and describedin his work 'Delle Antichità di Sarsina', published in 1607. These inscriptions formed the first nucleus of the  Archeological Museum in Sarsina.
These are for the most part funeral stones which date back to the Imperial age (end of the 1st century b.C.- first half of the 3rd century a.C.), and mostly found on the savio river-bed; tombstones were originally erected where the dead were buried, or they were put in miniature sepulchral buildings.
Epigraphs offer on the whole a cross-section of society in the ancient community of Sassina, referring to men who belonged to some of the most famous local families, and to free slaves (liberti); the names are sometimes associated to the indication of the 'collegia' (professional associations) to whom they belonged.

On the wall, on the right, there are two epigraphs: 

- the one of Murcia Athenaidis, (first half of the 3rd century a.C.), indicates that the dead lived in Sassina;
- the one of Publius Volusenus Genialis, patron of the 'centonari' association..

On the wall at the end of the room there are some inscriptions where the name of Cameria Saturnina often occurs;tombstones were originally put on the walls of a masonry sepulchral cella (2nd century a.C.). These inscriptions are particularly interesting from an epigraphic point of view. On the first one, the inscription of T.Titus Gemellus, the lines drawn by the artist in order to align letters are very clear.; on the big plaque of Avidius Primitivus there is an epigraphic link in the last visible word: PARENTE, which means 'parent'; on the inscription dedicated to Postumia Ianuaria, mistakes and corrections are evident..

Near the corner there is an architrave and a funeral cippus from the tomb of Cetraria Severina (first half of the 2nd century a.C.), priestess of the cult of Marciana, sister of the Emperor Traiano; on a side of the ensign there is a passage from her will: she left  6000 sesterces to the dendrophori, fabri and centonari associations, belonging to the  Municipality of Sarsina. 4000 sesterces should be used to distribute oil to all the members of the associations, every year, on the occasion of the anniversary of the priestess's birth.The other 2000 sesterces should be used to give honour to her 'Mani', the divinities who protected her family. The appeal to have her will respected is repeated twice ans is particularly significant..

Cippus of Marcana Vera

Stele of Atella Prisca

This room is linked to the previous one by an arch supported by columns.
In these two rooms of the ex Palazzo Lucchesi there are all the findings which were previously kept in the 'Maccio Plauto' Museum, realized on behalf of the Town Council by an archaeologist from Forlì, Antonio Santarelli, in 1890.
«Besides the minor epigraphic fragments there is a selection of sepulchral stones from Sarsina, which represent  some of the most significant types of stelae found in the necropolis of the region.
Tombstones usually show an inscription with the name of the person whom the monument was dedicated, often accompanied by the names of the relatives who provided for the burial.
Besides the epigraphic dedication there can be figures in relief with a symbolic or commemorative value; these figures should reproduce the features of the dead or recall the hereafter world.».

On the corner of the room there is  the most interesting piece of the room: it is the Marcana Vera's cippus which, under the dedication, shows a short poem about the cycle of the seasons:
Ver tibi contribuant sua munera florea grata
Et tibi grata comis nutet aestiva voluptas
Reddat et autumnus Bacchi tibi munera semper
Ac levi hiberni tempus tellure dicetur
("Shall Spring give you her flowery gifts, which are welcome to everyone,
and shall the sweet warmth of Summer be a pleasant company for you
and shall Autumn keep for you Bacchus' gifts,
and, finally, when you go back to earth, shall Winter be light for you").( Translated in English by Manuela Marini, from the Italian translation of prof. G.C.Susini).
Since these lines were too long, they were engraved on six lines instead of four, so the original acrostic effect has disappeared.
Near this cippus there is the stele of Helvia Harbuscula, a young freedwoman (beginning of the 1st century a.C.): a door is engraved on this stele, in order to symbolize the passage to the hereafter world. This funerary architectural element is often present in the monuments in Sarsina.

On the wall at the end of the room, on the left, there is the aedicula stele of  Atella Prisca (1st century a.C.); the ensign, which is luxuriously ornate and framed by an elaborate architectural composition, shows on the fronton  a Gorgon and two lions crouched down some goats' heads. These figures should emphasize the sacrality of the sepulchre and grant protection.

Another interesting piece is a marble stele characterized by a little triangular triple framed fronton and dedicated to Mattiena Myrallis by her husband, Quintus Commeatronis Exoratus, a freedman. He declares that his wife deserves more than what can be written in the inscription (2nd-3rd century a.C.).

The following piece is the fragmentary stele of the Fuficii family (first half of the 1st century a.C.), where we can see parts of the portraits through which the freedmen wanted to be remembered. In the big stele of the freedman Lucius Caesellius  Diopanes (second half of the 1st century b.C.), we can see the realistic representation of the dead, standing, holding a volumen in his hands and with a big ring which underlines his social prestige.

Pinecone ensign

Cippus of Secunda

Along the wall there are several tombstones, fortuitously recovered but related to the principal necropolis in Sarsina, because they are a sort of introduction of it.
The graveyard expanded in Pian di Bezzo, along a part of the road which lead to the plain, on the right side of the Savio river.
About 200 a.C. a landslide, maybe caused by an earthquake, blocked the course of the river and provoked the flooding of the whole area. This area was soon submerged by several metres of alluvia that protected for centuries the tombs which were there.
The following fluvial erosion brought to light many tombstones and architectural frames; between 1927 and 1933, and then during the '50s and the '80s, systematic excavations allowed to find a large sector of the monumental sepulchre.

On the right there is a part of the Horatius Balbus' ordinance (I sec. a.C.),and the content reminds of the donation of plots of land which had to be used for the burial of people in need..

The following piece is the big architrave with the indication of the widness of a funerary lot  110 feet (33m.) long (2nd century a.C.).

On the floor there is the little funerary cippus of Secunda (2nd century a.C.). It is made of calcareous stone and it was in the past surmonted by a pinecone put by the husband  Lucio Sarsinate Trasileo, to show his grief for the virtuous, pious and chaste wife. An interesting characteristic of this inscription is the indication of the citizenship (SASSINAS) in the husband's name..

At the end of the room there are some sepulchral sculptural fragments and little pinecone ensigns, followed by parts of monuments with a Doric frieze (second half of the 1st century b.C.).

Monument of
Publius Verginius Paetus

Mosaic

Fake stone funerary urn

Alabaster cinerary urn

At the very entrance of the room there is the stately monument of Publius Verginius Paetus.

On the wall, on the right, we can see several architectural elements which were in the past a part of complex sepulchral architectures, those with a cuspidate aedicula, which date back to the second half of the 1st century b.C.
Three Corinthian capitals and a part of a trabeation with a vegetal frieze representing leaves of acanthus, belonged to the middle part of the monuments, in the shape of a little temple with columns in front.
This kind of temples had a sham door which should introduce to the cell, actually inexistent and inaccessible. We have two double shuttered examples of these sham doors, referring to to different monuments.
On the left there are other elements belonging to the upper part of the aedicula monuments: cornerslabs of the pyramidal cusp, some vegetal volutes and a big square Corinthian  capital which had to be put at the top of the cusp as a crown.
On the wall there are the remains of the fake stone funerary urns usually put at the top of the monuments: they were sphere-shaped and had griffins' heads on them. These elements ideally projected towards the sky the body of the dead, as to heroize his memory.

In the room we can see, proteced by a glass, a part of an ancient sewerage found exactly in that place. Close to it there is a nice mosaic flooring, with black and white tesserae which form different geometrical patterns. This mosais was found in Piazzale Santarelli, next to the museum.

On the wall at the end of the room (we suggest visiting it after Room V) there are several engraved stones mentioning the names of some divinties which were in the past worshipped in Sarsina.
In this area there were several religious cults, both connected to the olympic pantheon or of italic-roman tradition, and, mostly in the mid Imperial age, deriving from the eastern mediterranean area.
Worth seeing is the series of basements made of red marble from Verona: they had to support the bronze statues of divinities  dedicated by C. Caesius Sabinus, a wealthy man from Sarsina who lived between the end of the 1st and the beginning of the 2nd century a.C. On the five marble basements there is the name of the dedicator, sometimes abbreviated, and the dedication to Jupiter, Minerva, Apollo, Spes and Dei Pubblici.

On the wall we can see a  big fragment of a curvilinear trabeation with the name of  Sabinus; this architectural element in the past should be put outside the sacred cella which contained the statues. This cella may correspond to the structure built near the forum, whose ruins are still visible in vicolo Aurigemma.

In the room there are also some minor epigraphic fragments referring to Minerva, Jupiter, Saturn, Fortuna and Liber.

Near the door there is a small cippus dedicated by Aufidius Pastor to a Fons. It witnesses a natural water cult practised in Montecastello, near Sarsina.
Along the same wall we can see the big marble entrance of a public building, maybe a thermal bath. The hinges of the door are still visible.

Mosaic with the "Triumph of Dionysius"

Door stele of
Titia Prima

Sepulchral tombstones

On the sides of the passage, we can see several gravestones, for the most part stelae, found along the road which crossed the necropolis of Pian di Bezzo.
On the right, the small monuments show only the engraved and decorated part which emerged on the ancient trampling plan; on the left, the tombstones still show their original bases and the underground structures, where the ashes of the deads were kept.

Other remains belong to major, sandstone monuments.

On the left, between some tombstones belonging to the Augustean and Julius- Claudia Age (end of the I century b.C. - half of the I century a.C.), we draw your attention to the aedicule stele of Sextus Obellius, to the small altar of Caesellia Gazza, with reliefs portraying the funerary Geniuses, to the door-shaped stele of Titia Prima and to the cippus which bounded the sepulchral area of the muleteer association (muliones).

On the same side, at the end of the room, the funerary monument of Murcius Oculatius has been rebuilt, together with its sandstone funerary urn. This cuspidate, aedicule sepulchre is exactly alike to Murcius Obulaccus' one: the latter was Murcius Oculatius' father and his funerary monument has been totally reconstructed at the entrance of the town.

On the right, you can see the two marble stelae of Rasius Aphrodisius and Veturius Sabinus (end of the II century a.C.) decorated by simple furrows. These stelae are two of the most recent ones from the necropolis of Pian di Bezzo.

Besides, the room keeps two of the most significant findings of the museum: the monument of Rufus and the mosaic with the "Triumph of Dionysius".

ROOM VI

Serapide

Attis

The statues of the oriental divinities

Along the sides of the room, you can see, standing on supports, sculptural elements, made of greek marble and discovered between 1923 and 1927 in the west part of the town where probably an important sanctuary was.
This group of statues is extremely important not only for its artistic relevance but also for its religious and economic value. Two big Corinthian capitals and parts of the marble basements are the only remains of the original architectural decoration of the sacred building. This group of statues, dating back between the end of the II and the beginning of the III century a.C., constituted the most important sanctuary, dedicated to these divinities in northern Italy. The presence of this sanctuary testified the spreading of the new cults, which were locally diffused during the Imperial Age, thanks to the cultural influences coming from the seaport of Ravenna.
These oriental cults were relevant also from an economic point of view: in the neighbouring port of Classe, the roman fleet was mostly composed by eastern sailors, who worshipped this kind of divinities. The presence of the sanctuary brought clear economic benefits. Moreover, if we consider the singularity of the rituals (the priest fell into a sort of trance), we can suppose that life and environment in Sarsina had a peculiar connotation, in comparison with other towns.

The sculptures have been probably broken into pieces to obtain lime or have been destroyed by the early Christians. These sculptures required a long work of reassembling and restoration.

On the left, after the remains of a male figure, maybe representing Mitra, we have three statues connected to three Egyptian cults: the statue of Serapide, sitting, compared with Pluto for the presence of Cerbero, Anubis (?), on a basement with sacred hawks in relief and Arpocrate (?), young divinity: this statue has been almost totally destroyed, we still have only the feet.

On the opposite side, we have two more sculptures, connected with the asiatic cults:
- Magna Mater, sitting, with a couple of lions sideways and tambourines at her foot;
- Attis, the most beautiful statue of the museum: it represents a young, naked divinity with the characteristic Phrygian cap.

Civic inscriptions and architectural remains

Toward the end of room VI and in the next one you can see various tombstones and structural fragments, dating back between the I century b.C. and the III century a.C. which document the civic, political, administrative and architectural structure of the town. A first series of inscriptions (I-II century a.C.) is relevant to honorary dedications which recall members of the imperial family (Nerva, Traiano, Faustina Maggiore, Marco Aurelio) and important people from Sarsina (L. Appaeus Pudens, Aulus Pudens, C. Caesius Sabinus), with references also to some of the main municipal magistratures.
Other epigraphs are connected with the construction of buildings and important public works (boundary walls, a podium). A choice of basements, columns and capitals in marble and local stone offers a complete picture of the urban architecture.

At the entrance of room VII, on the right, we have some blocks of stone with inscriptions concerning the costruction of the fortifications (first half of the I century b.C.); the texts of the inscriptions mention the authorities who promoted the execution of the boundary walls (quattuorviri iure dicundo), an architectus and the different parts which formed the walls (murus, valvae, portae, turres).

Further on, along the same wall, you can see remains of columns and Tuscan, sandstone capitals, dating back to the I century b.C. They belonged to the arcades which, during the Republican Age, enclosed the north-west side of the forum; these elements have been found in the excavation area in the north of Piazza Plauto, which still keeps part of the original forensic flooring.

ROOM  A

Small votive bronzes

In the central show case, you can see ceramic fragments made of a rough mixture and purified clay, with painted decorations. These fragments date back to the earliest Umbrian Age (second half of the IV-beginning of the III century b.C.); close to the vase remains, mostly discovered in the excavation area of the ex-Seminary, there are remains of plaster with terracotta. This kind of plaster was originally used to cover the simple, wooden huts, which formed the primitive settlement of Sarsina.

From the area of the old Sports Ground, we have a group of votive remains connected to a cult place of italic tradition (III-II century b.C.): these findings consist of small, bronze statues, featuring Hercules, devotees in the act of offering, some bronze coins (one from the series coined in Ariminum after268 b.C.) and aes rude.

ROOM  B

Roman oil lamp

In this room, we have household furnishing, dating back to the Roman Age and coming from the settlement and necropolis of Sarsina.
In the first showcases, you can see some outfits together with the ashes of the dead in cremation tombs, found in the necropolis of Pian di Bezzo.These outfits had the function of accompanying the dead to the afterlife, and were usually composed by earthenware, oil lamps to illuminate the way to the hereafter, coins used as offering to Caronte, baked clay and glass pots for scented oils (in same cases, they were contorted and melted by the funeral pyre) and personal objects such as bone brooches and bronze mirrors in women tombs or small, cylindrical, marble inkstands in men tombs.

In the central showcase, a tiles covered coffin, recovered in pian di Bezzo, has been reconstructed. This kind of funerary structure was one of the most diffused during the first Imperial Age (I-II century b.C.) and was characterized by a double-weathered roofing, originally used as a protection for the ashes of the dead and the outfit after the funerary pyre

In the next corridor, on the right, there are parts of mosaic floorings belonging to the Imperial Age, with different decorations and inserts in opus sectile (composition in small tesserae made of polychrome marbles). Along the opposite wall we have some lead pipes (fistulae) used for the distribution of water to the public buildings.

 Polychrome cup

Gaming set

Male portrait

Earthenware
In the showcases of this room, we would like to indicate in particular, the votive plates (lanx) in glazed baked clay. This kind of earthenware, found in Sarsina and decorated with phytomorphous patterns and Dionysiac scenes, is extraordinary for its quality and quantity.
Another numerous series consists of earthware in flat varnish (pink, red, orange), often with dark overpaintings produced in Romagna and dating back between the I and the III century. The most common object is a large tray with, in same cases, decorated handles. Among the glass vases, we indicate a wonderful polychrome cup, a lozengy glass, a plate, a bottle and a pair of decorated cups with two handles.
We have then a refined, bronze pitcher with a decoration representing a child who plays with a goose.

Sculptures

On the wall at the end of the room there are several fragments of marble statues, mostly recovered during the excavations made inside the built-up area.
These findings, together with those exposed on the ground floor, complete the panorama of the sculptural patrimony of Sarsina. These pieces belonged to both public and private buildings: they decorated rich houses or reproduced famous local people.

In the middle of the room there is the head of a woman, with a diadem representing a personality of the Imperial circle (half of the 1st century a.C.), maybe Livai, Augustus' wife. This head belonged to one of those official sculptures exposed in some public buildings (maybe a Basilica?), in the center of the town, near the forum.

Along the sides of the roomthere are two male portraits: the first one represents a young man who lived during the Trajan age (beginning of the 2nd century a.C.); the other one is the realistic portrait of an old man of the Republican age (1st century b.C.). This sculpture, comong from the necropolis of Pian di Bezzo, belonged to a statue that was probably part of  an aedicula funerary monument.

On the wall there are two fragments that belonged to the sculpture of a young man on a horse, of Hellenistic tradition: the piece, recovered among the ruins of a building discovered near the Museum, should be part of the decoration of a domus.

Remains of the domus in via Finamore
On the right side of the room there are several findings recovered in 1988 during an archaeological excavation made at the crossing between via Roma and via Finamore.
The structures brought to light belonged to a rich domus  built in the block of houses which extended in the middle of the roman town, on the west of the forum. In the same block of houses there was also the domus whose mosaic flooring "The Triumph of Dyonisius" is exhibited in the Museum.
The house was built in the Republican age (first half of the 1st century b.C.) and then renovated towards the end of the 2nd century a.C. During the second half of the 3rd century a.C. a fire caused its destruction and the collapse of the structure, but this allowed to preserve, under the debris, a big part of the floorings and of the household furnishings.
Archaeologists discovered three rooms of the domus.

On the corner of the room we can see the mosaic that towards the end of the2nd century a.C. had been used to renovate the flooring of a small triclinium (dining room). On the threshold there is the black and white representation of a tritonhauled by a hippocampus and followed by a dolphin; in the central scene, a polychrome picture with Hercules inebriated (ebbro) and staggering, supported by a Satyr, is surrounded by panels with other sea beings and, on the corners, the heads of the four seasons.
On the right we can see the stone threshold of a side entrance.

On the wall there is a part of a frescoed plaster from the same room, and two parts of flooring in opus signinum belonging to the adjacent rooms.

On the mosaic and in the hanging showcases there are the household furnishing discovered inside the domus. We indicate the gaming set put on the marble shelf: it consists of a little pot containing refilling oil, a pair of tweezers for the wick and some score tesserae made of glass paste; the wooden gaming board (tabula lusoria), which was part of the set, has been destroyed by the time.